The Halloween Kids (TV series)
The Halloween Kids is an American-Canadian TV series that aired from 2000-2003 on YTV. It was created by and based on the books by Elliot Strange and developed by Strange, Owen Emerson and Paul Ward. Production The Halloween Kids was produced by Artemis Entertainment, Gecko Studios and Wardville, Inc., in association with Nelvana Limited. The show housed talent from both Vancouver and Ontario. Nelvana handled the latter for their talent while Strange houses Vancouver Talent Union actors. Strange struggled to find an American network to have the show aired on. He went to PAX and USA Network; the latter had shifted their format and felt the show didn't fit with their direction, while the former had the same sentiments (they had tried to edit the program to make it more appealing for their demographic, but the finished product was rendered unsalvageable.) The show was initially backed out of pocket; the producers funded the show using the proceeds garnered from their past works. This enabled Strange to hold on to a bigger percentage of the rights to the show. Route 90 Publishing, distributor of the books, held on to their ownership and issued a hostile takeover on Gecko Studios (Strange's company.) This led to production getting halted after the first season, as Gecko attempted to buy out Route 90's stake. Route 90 was sued over loyalty disputes by its former content creators and filed for bankruptcy. Vantage Capitole S.A., a funding agency Strange was affiliated with, won Route 90's assets in their bankruptcy auction. Vantage sold their management branch to Strange, and he rebranded it as Strange & Company. Today, they own the show, though Corus Entertainment still maintains domestic streaming rights. Plot The show is set in the fictional town of Belbury and focuses on the residents there. It typically centers on Jupiter, a girl who considers herself an outsider to the four main social groups in her school, The Halloween Kids; a team of supernatural kids, the Elites, containing the most influential students, the Hive; the obligatory clique and a gang led by a kind hearted punk, Julie. Most episodes tend to focus on one of the four groups, though Jupiter always has some form of involvement. In the books, Belbury was set in Wisconsin (somewhere within Florence County.) To appease Canadian broadcast laws and increase the appeal of the show to viewers in the area, Belbury's location was changed to that of a fictional suburban area in Edmonton, Alberta. It was never explicitly mentioned in the show itself, but in plot summaries on promotional ads. Structure Episodes typically begin with a cold open. The openings tend to have nothing to do with the plot (save for certain instances where they establish certain characters or give an implication for what's to come.) Episodes feature a mix of horror elements and tongue-in-cheek humor. Most episodes are played for laughs, while others tend to be dark and go as far as touching upon elements such as abuse and death. There's a mild sense of continuity between the episodes, namely applying toward the characters where they either become friends with anyone in the main gang or go through development that sticks throughout the remainder of the series. Characters The Halloween Kids The Halloween Kids are a gang of children encompassing multiple personalities and means of handling situations. With the exception of Alison, Colleen, Jerry and later Jupiter, each member has supernatural powers. They were virtually unchanged from their book counterparts. *'Alison Meeks (Maryke Hendrikse):' The leader of the Halloween Kids. Alison is a spunky talkative girl and the leader of the Halloween Kids. She is knowledgeable on everything obscure or irrelevant to what's currently happening, with a varying payoff. Since she was the first to discover the club's first monster, she had leeway in becoming their leader. While generally optimistic, Alison also tends to be somewhat moody and short-tempered. She also tends to be somewhat selfish whenever an opportunity comes for her to gain power, leading to people turning against her, even Colleen. She wears shades frequently, done to cover her disfigured set of eyes which she believed was caused by a rare eye disorder, but it was caused by a pact her family made with the Headless Inspectre to preserve their lives, leading to disfigurement on their next born child as a permanent reminder to never invoke his wrath. Alison was born in Dover-Foxcroft, Maine. *'Colleen Dixon (Jillian Michaels):' Colleen is Alison's best friend. Colleen is a somewhat shy girl who takes on a deadpan persona when she's forced to interact with others. Colleen stuck with Alison because the latter understood her better and is helping build her self-esteem. She wants to become a stronger individual and learn to fight her own battles in order to be like her parents. Colleen is typically the voice of reason or one who'd rather gawk at certain things, but she tends to be just as bad, often worse than Alison when she loses control. Colleen's from Denver, Colorado. *'Jupiter Slaatsky (Andrea Libman):' The youngest in the Slaatsky family, later a main protagonist in the series. She was originally the main protagonist of the books only for the focus to switch to the Halloween Kids, though she made up for it through various prominent appearances. Jupiter is a bubbly girl who for years found it difficult to express herself due to her father's attitude. She had always been somewhat of an outsider, though this would help her get into Julie's gang. For years she had held back feelings of anxiety, resentment and malevolence toward Boris and Suzy, which manifested into a dark form that overcame her. *'Sam Proctor (Julie Lemieux):' A girl who's into magic and planting and is also a bookworm. It's revealed that she's a witch, but she keeps it under wraps so she could make friends easier and maintain a normal life. Sam is very cynical, and tends to be the first to criticize potentially bad ideas, and she also has low patience. She is also very calm, but is easily provoked and merciless when angered. She found herself unwilling to loosen up since previous attempts led to humiliation. In One-two Skadoo, it's revealed that for a time she had been the youngest member of their team. *'Jerry Sandoval (Ian James Corlett):' The only boy in the group. Jerry is a wide-eyed cowardly boy, and lacking in any major powers. As a result, he is often used as bait for most missions or as a sacrifice when dealing with authority figures. This seemingly does little to phase him, and he has generally accepted his place in the group. Jerry is often used for comedic relief in more serious episodes. *'Jenny Sandoval (Sarah Gadon):' An alien girl who was sent to Earth by her family due to miscommunication between them and their overlord. She landed in Belbury and befriended Jerry, who was the only human who wasn't afraid of her. She is taken in by Ned and treated as if he was her own. Because of her lack of experience on Earth, Jenny comes off as somewhat naive and may engage in acts normal to her, but too bizarre for everyone else. *'Becky Newton (Chiara Zanni):' A girl who has the ability to turn into a werewolf, as well as the daughter of Luther and Laney. Becky ran away from home a few months prior to the start of the series and had a run-in with Victoria who turned her into a werewolf, though due to her change being brought on through DNA extraction, it was more of a mutation than a traditional affliction. Something of a wallflower, her shyness prevented her from making friends back then, so when she ran away nobody realized it. Becky is typically calm and quiet, only opening up to those she's close to, but is also easily angered. She develops a crush on Randall after he encouraged her to return to Belbury and face her parents. As a human, Becky has heightened senses and reflexes, but for fear of losing control, she rarely brings out her werewolf form. In Juggerhead through to Enter the Detendimension, Randall helps rehabilitate her and after using her ability to aid everyone in defeating Suzy, she is relieved of her affliction. The Perrino Elites The Perrino Elites are a secret society, one of the most feared in Alison's school. They exist to provide a protection racket for the more dominant social groups, namely bullies (preferably bullies with higher intelligence than others), divas, jocks and those with professional connections. They would seek anyone who annoys them and punish them based on the extent of their misdeed. All members communicate through telepathy and assess the issue of the day. * Francis Perrino (Catherine Disher): The leader of the Elites, best identified by her large head sporting a bulging vein (which is actually indicative of her telepathic abilities.) Francis is a ruthless individual who does whatever she could to maintain her reputation in Belbury Middle School. She directs her worst aspects toward those she hates in order to prevent any internal protest from her cohorts. Francis originally deemed The Halloween Kids as a threat and waited for a good opportunity to take them down, but after various instances of Alison helping her and her group, both reach a mutual understanding and become friends. * Ashley Yorke (Tracey Moore): Ashley is a somewhat sociopathic child, taking joy in seeing obnoxious people suffer. She is willing to put down anyone who annoys her, regardless if said person is on good terms with her. As a result, she has very few friends and has no interest in making any new ones. Her hatred of obnoxious people appropriately stems from constant encounters with them growing up; this has even extended to her family, to the point she refuses to even share the same house with them, moving into her treehouse before getting taken in by Andy. The closest she has to friends are Andy due to their cynical behavior and Madison, though the latter seems to have been out of pride as Ashley managed to sedate her in Election Show. Her parents and upper relatives are her polar opposites, being obnoxiously optimistic and friendly, but vicious when questioned. * Fiona Kennedy (Andrea Libman): Francis' other friend. Fiona seems to lack mental stability, showing no reluctance to bring about cruel and unusual punishments to anyone who crosses Francis or any of the other elites. Also tends to act like a dog, something she does to get attention. She is revealed to be poor and lives in a trailer park. Fiona is from Mount Cory, Ohio. * Ruth Dinsdale (Tabitha St. Germain): Francis' second in command. Ruth was born in Laurel, Mississippi, but was soon abandoned by her parents in a swamp and raised by alligators, giving her bizarre facial features. Unlike most characters of her type, Ruth is not above calling out her superiors and tends to serve as Francis' conscious. *'Angela Asbrew (Vanessa Morley):' Kerry’s niece. Angela is a bit of a loner and generally anti-social. This was brought on by a troubled home life. She left her parents after they showed indifference to when she got separated from them and was sent to live with Kerry via a court order. Kerry wasn't any better at raising her, thanks to his mental issues, and it worsened her own bad aspects. Angela is insecure and lacks self-esteem. Angela lacks the initiative to go out and make friends, save for Selma since she shares her poor social skills. She suffers from chronic nosebleeds which typically occur when she's flustered. Among her interests are playing the piano and flying kites. *'Dante Ahrens (Tony Sampson):' A bully of a mild nature. Dante doesn't seek to harm anyone unless they provoke him, or if someone hires him to. Over the course of the series, Dante attempts to better himself after feeling out of sync with his social status. He develops a crush on Julie and the two get together in the second season. Dante's appearance is based after Chevelle vocalist Pete Loeffler. *'Georgina Sutcliffe (Tabitha St. Germain):' The school diva. Georgina originally hailed from Yorkshire and was a sheltered, boarding school attendee from a well-off family until they lost ownership of the school. They moved to New Brunswick to start a new life and their daughter would be forced to attend public school. Georgina is a girly-girl, slightly naive due to her still-developing grip on the middle-class town and was nasty for a while, but slowly changed throughout the series. Georgina is a curious girl who isn't afraid to get dirty every now and again, and has a bizarre fondness for gross things. This helped her become friends with Jenny, who considers most gross things on Earth a delicacy, as well as Sam who's work revolves around gross things. A running gag throughout the series is that Georgina always gets hit in the head by a ball. *'Randall Bench (Richard Ian Cox):' A smooth-talking boy who's obsessed with money. Randall is a perfectionist who intends to earn everything through hard work and honesty, but there're times he abandons those principals for a stronger payout. He does work for hire, but has a steady job as a sweeper and a delivery boy. He also has a love interest in Becky, whom he indirectly helped redeem herself. Randall was born in Staten Island, New York. It's said that Randall's characterization is an amalgamation of Billy Joel and Frank Sinatra, especially the former. *'Tiberius Kirschner (Daniel DeSanto):' A jock who's part of the school's football team. He is a strategic thinker and serves as a bodyguard alongside Clifford. Beyond his stereotype, he isn't as much of a bully as Clifford, he's somewhat of a momma's boy and is a stickler for fair play. Following in his mother's footsteps, he's a science-fiction fanatic. Tiberius' name seems to be a hybrid between the names of Captain James Kirk and David Kirschner; Tiberius is the former's middle name while Kirschner is the last name of David Kirschner, a key producer on Earth: Final Conflict. * Selma Slaatsky (Janyse Jaud): The second youngest in the Slaatsky clan. Selma takes after her father, and tends to be abrasive and crude, inhibiting her from making friends. This reflects on her school life, where she tends to bully most of her female peers. Selma is into sports that mainly involve the use of rackets, specifically tennis, badminton and lacrosse, plus she has a hefty appetite. She has a dysfunctional relationship with Jupiter and tends to bully her; this is mainly out of jealousy for the fact that Jupiter is hardly affected by the mostly dysfunctional nature of their parents. Deep down, Selma was troubled and felt too scared to express her true feelings. Over the course of the series, she opens up and even makes peace with Jupiter. * Taylor Swenson (Nicole Oliver): The most popular student at Belbury Middle School. True to her title, Taylor is somewhat of a diva, though unlike most divas, she is more conservative and tends to strike people she feels deserve ridicule. She doesn't antagonize Alison and her friends (perhaps out of fear for angering those with supernatural powers) and is only involved with the Elites due to prior association with most of the members. She is the head of a subchapter in the Elites, the Hive, which consist of those similar to her. * Briana Waloski (Tabitha St. Germain): Daughter of Burt and Jade. Unlike her parents, Briana is wrapped up in her wealth and is quick to put lower class individuals down. Her behavior is due to insecurity; she had been bullied before her parents became rich. Her insults are thinly-veiled cries for friendship, though thankfully she was able to make connections with the Elites. * Monique Broderick (Stacey DePass): Monique primarily hangs out with Taylor and her posse of friends. She is strangely idolized for her mysterious visage, something that irritates her, though she takes the high road and says nothing about it. Truthfully, she is very shy and finds it hard to hold one on one conversations. She enjoys listening to music. * Clifford (Brian Drummond): A heavyset bully who's the most polarizing part of the Elites. He isn't above getting punished by the others for his behavior, and he tends to antagonize Colleen, something the Halloween Kids hate him for. Compared to other bullies, Clifford is more self-aware and mainly does what he does to maintain balance without leaving it to a much worse replacement. When he's on good terms with the Elites, he tends to act as a bodyguard alongside Tiberius. Julie's Gang Predates the Halloween Kids by a few months. All of the members met whilst in detention and bonded over their dislike for Ms. Chapley. Jupiter left to join the Halloween Kids, but maintains an alliance with the gang. Julie's gang never hindered the Halloween Kids unless they were provoked. The gang seems to be a node to a typical street gang or a mere band of revels. * Julie Dallow (Bryn McAuley): A punk girl who often takes the role of a contrarian. She used to be a prominent street rat until she got the chance to turn her life around. Julie holds a strong moral compass and sticks up for much weaker individuals, though she tends to be very sarcastic to most people she isn't fond of. Julie used to be a typical girly girl, but after breaking due to years of mockery, devolved to he current phase and made it her own. * Victor Fulton (Peter Oldring): A toady boy with a unibrow and buck teeth. He's a dealer and a prankster who only acts when he knows he could get away with it. He often goes into things without thinking and tends to throw his friends into danger to save himself from any trouble. Other times, if the situation seems hopeless, Victor would do anything to get out of it. * Thaddeus "Corky" Winthrop (Noel Callahan): '''A timid, often mute boy who is best identified by the fact that he wears a bicycle helmet almost all of the time. It's believed that his weirdest aspect is beneath his helmet, though it's also theorized that his head is soft and it's used for protection. Whenever he speaks, it's usually to sum up whatever happens to his friends or to offer a solution. * '''Bernadette Shunt (Tracey Moore): A girl who always possesses a smug look on her face. She is snarky and sarcastic, particularly to people within her circle, but is mostly quiet everywhere else. She seems to be one of the oldest friends within her circle, having known Victor for years. She doesn't wear socks or shoes. * Mack MacPheran (Chiara Zanni): A fitness fanatic and, consequentially, the brawn of the group. Mack is close to Julie, with the latter even being trained by her. In spite of her nature, Mack is somewhat squeamish and is prone to panic attacks in situations without blatant solutions. The Raven Stakes A now retired supernatural investigation team. They grew apart following a devastating attack on what turned out to be innocent spirits who wanted to aid the Stakes. They've been ostracized by the neighborhood for their efforts, but do their best to live normal lives. * Kerry Hubbard (Stephen Ouimette): The uncle/father of Angela and Pamela respectively. Kerry seems to lack mental stability, often quick to go into extremes if no one's around to keep him in line. His obsession with integrity puts him at odds with Angela, thanks to her more rebellious nature. Kerry was once married to Hope Chapley, through a shotgun marriage, but he broke up with her due to her being more unhinged than him. The root of Kerry's mental problems has never been identified, though it's believed he suffers from Bipolar Disorder. In Die-Section, it's revealed that Kerry's Jewish. Kerry was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan. * Cosmo Kadic (Roger Dunn): A principal at Belbury Middle School. Cosmo is prideful and quick to get instigated when challenged. Beyond his closest friends and family, he seemingly cares little about the well-being of others, shown by him tormenting numerous students whilst he was in college. He also seems to use his job as principal to let out his more sociopathic tendencies, all to enforce his role as principal. The means he goes to do this is a reason why numerous supernatural beings attend the school, and also why he and Ms. Chapley are the only constant members of the faculty. In spite of his demeanor, he doesn't actively hate anyone unless they antagonize him. Cosmo's demeanor stems from the death of his wife and his reluctance to start a new relationship. Cosmo's from Grants Pass, Oregon. * Lars Perrino (Tony Rosato): Francis' father and the current successor to the Perrino estate. He got convicted following the disbandment of the Stakes due to mounting charges from his mafia days, but got out after agreeing to a plea bargain where he would reveal the locations of still-active members of his crime family. He served his family and the Stakes and is very similar to his daughter in terms of interests and means of operating. Lars seems to have been affected the worst by his time in the Stakes, having developed post traumatic stress disorder. It's implied heavily that Lars is gay and has developed a fixation on Cosmo for whatever reason. * Ned Sandoval (Hiro Kanagawa): Jerry and Jenny's father. Ned is a generally weird man, having a strong obsession with aliens and doing various unorthodox things when not in the company of others. He often refers to everything as "fascinating", paying no mind to what's happening to or around him. As a result of his behavior he's often left out of various activities and his wife is more favored than him. Ned seemed to have been little more than a punching bag or a meat shield to the Stakes, and he's often the butt of many jokes. Ned is from Lima, Ohio. * Bob Dixon (Howard Jerome): The team's brawn, and Colleen's father. For a time, he was the strongest man in Belbury, best known for his dexterity and better resistance to pain. This was compromised when he was involved in a car accident a year after the Stakes disbanded, breaking his back and both of his ankles in the process. Years of recovery rendered him out of shape and he walks with the aid of a cane. He's somewhat of a pacifist, refusing to aid his neighbors if they'd resort to violence, which caused him to turn to the Neighborhood Committee out of disgust toward the Stakes' more violent measures. Bob's interests include fishing, checkers and poker. He came from Anderson, Missouri. * Luther Newton (Harvey Atkin): Becky's father. Luther was a compulsive gambler who previously exploited the Raven Stakes in order to avoid conviction for financial scandals and to get out of paying owed debts. He is seen frequently where the Perrinos and the Binders are present and seems to be within the same neighborhood as the other adults. Luther is a bumbling and generally meek man, but when provoked he tends to be violent. Antagonists * Headless Inspectre (Eugene Levy): The Headless Inspectre is the ghost of Blaine Matson, a renowned health inspector from the 1950s. He was killed in 1971 by a vengeful butcher after Blaine gave him a poor review. Prior to this, he practiced heavily in black magic to ensure that he would maintain power and return to humanity in some form were anything to happen to him. Because of this, his severed head became cursed and his spirit roamed free until the Raven Stakes imprisoned it in a book, which Suzy freed him from. Blaine's head was buried beneath an oak tree set on the highest point in Belbury. To whomever reunites his head with his body, he will become their servant, only for the reverse to happen. * Suzy Hellman (Catherine Disher): The prime antagonist. She's a cousin to the Slaatskies, a fact she kept under wraps to preserve her social image. Suzy seems to hate anyone that she deems weird or are a blight on her visions for wealth and power, prompting her to claim no association to people of smaller social standings and even openly attacking her former friends Elizabeth and Dolly. She is in constant denial over her place in the school's social hierarchy, believing herself to be above everyone when she is actually one of the most hated in her school, generally being deemed well out of sync with the rest of her peers, even the Hive. She'd say anything to get respect from others, in spite of hypocritically doing stuff that's against it. Lacking in sympathy, she blew off Elizabeth and Dolly, her only true friends and nearly killed Jupiter in a fight because she revealed Suzy's connection to the Slaatskies. She later unleashes the Headless Inspectre in an attempt to destroy Belbury and restart it in her own image, unaware of the curse where he would claim her soul soon after. She finds a way out of this however, and takes control of the Spectre's domain, only to get imprisoned in his tome and burned out of existence. * Zelda Proctor (Tabitha St. Germain): Sam's mother and the antagonist for the first season. The epitome of a bourgeois wife, Zelda is incredibly vein and pretentious. Her feelings are often put toward her husband and daughter, to the point they kicked her out of their house and forced her to live in a guest cottage. Having been raised in New York City, this led to conflicts with the suburbanites embodying the Neighborhood Committee. Zelda had always been against the Halloween Kids and has attempted to decimate the group by putting them through the same experience the Stakes went through, implied in Suziopath. In Stuffed on You, she cheats on Monte and Martha and Selma for a time were the only ones who knew about it. After the events of Suziopath, Zelda was sent to the pit and consumed by "Billy". Her spirit emerged and fled to the Detendimension where she aligned with the Headless Inspectre. * Boris Slaatsky (Long John Baldry): A recurring (later main for the second season) antagonist, Hanneke's husband and the father of Selma, Mercury and Jupiter. Boris is a Russian immigrant who met Hanneke in Arizona. Both wound up marrying to escape issues they had before. Boris is obsessed with morality and is more than willing to inflict harsh punishments to get his daughters on the right track. His obnoxious behavior also puts him at odds with the Stakes. This was spurred by Boris' encounters during the Red Scare, where every attempt at him trying to help was deterred by everyone's paranoia at the time. This, along with his strong admiration for Lyndon B. Johnson inspiring him to proceed with the fatal coup further put a strain on his mind and he found it difficult to get over. In the finale, he gets back into the good graces of his colleagues after accidentally causing Suzy to lose her powers, giving everyone the chance to take down the enemy. * Billy: A mysterious gecko-like monster that inhabits a sand-based dimension. It's unknown where it came from or what it is, but it was known to be the first monster the Raven Stakes ever fought. The monster was kept in its dimension, accessible through the Perrino's house and previously used during their mafia days to dispose of those in debt to them (this being another factor for Lars' neuroticism.) Billy is first introduced in Over the Moon and Into the Gutter when Becky is clued in on his feeding period by Hen, and makes his first major appearance in Billy Billy is Gonna Gonna Go Kill Me when he breaks out to recover his offspring, only to get killed by the end. Neighborhood Committee Basically rivals to the Raven Stakes. Hurt over the latter's final coup, they're quick to assume the Stakes would return to more violent ways, which in turn would affect the town. It's revealed that everyone in the committee are reincarnations of the spirits the Raven Stakes fought. As is the Stakes' relationship with the Halloween Kids, the committee is closely tied to the Elites. The committee has access to a dimension, home to a giant gecko monster with whom he's fed the bodies of those that have harmed Belbury. * Burton Waloski (Richard Newman): A billionare who's the leader of the committee. Contrary to the archetype, Burton is a very generous man, who's willing to help lower class individuals. He has a level of animosity toward the Stakes; he doesn't like Cosmo for his pride and propensity to attack his financial class, he's more than aware of Kerry's mental instability, he's weirded out by Ned and Lars' family had targeted the Waloskis in the past. Nevertheless, he and the Stakes tend to find solidarity when their neighborhood is at risk. From Wahpeton, North Dakota. * Jade Waloski (Linda Ballantyne): Burton's wife. Seemingly poised as a trophy wife, Jade is actually a very intelligent woman, being the only one in the neighborhood to graduate with a degree, though she was never able to find a career in her field that made her happy. Jade is a timid and frail woman who is often seen with her husband and is reluctant to stand on her own. From Rapid City, South Dakota. * Victoria Meeks (Saffron Henderson): Alison's biological mother and Amber's sister. Unlike the latter, Victoria was generally carefree and girly. She got involved with a classmate who was studying lycanthropy, and it led to her slowly becoming a werewolf after a series of tests. They affected Victoria's personality, causing a rift between her and Amber. Victoria ran away and got involved with Richard (before he became Sorrow.) Following Richard's death, Victoria became Alison's sole guardian before she lost her mind and gave in to her more primal desires. Alison and Victoria are reunited in New Frontfears and she returns to normal, seeking to reconcile with the former and Amber. As kids, she and Amber had something of a rivalry, it still being held. * Amber Meeks (Patricia Drake): Alison's aunt and current guardian, as well as Victoria's sister and the mother of Linda, Yorba and Nixon. Opposite her sister, Amber's a bit more high strung and not as flexible as Victoria, though this doesn't completely overtake her personality. Amber cares deeply for her family, and tends to be very emotional. In the past, she was a rebellious girl, something that led to her and Victoria getting turned into werewolves, and Amber's still hurt by that. From Dover-Foxcroft, Maine. * Enid Dixon (Linda Kash): Colleen's mother. She is a stern mother figure, but only to what she deems to be the proper extent. Enid was bulled throughout her youth, thanks to her height and awkwardness, which prompted her to lift weights to up her self-esteem, leading to her becoming a bodybuilder. She and Bob were childhood friends and dated for a while, but broke it off when Bob became part of the Raven Stakes, a group she wound up becoming the biggest critic for. After reencountering Bob, who had his back damaged, the two reconciled and moved to Denver, later to Wisconsin to pursue new work. Like Bob, Enid is a pacifist. Enid is from Lowell, Arkansas. * Majel Sandoval (Nicole Oliver): Ned's wife. Contrary to her more eccentric husband, Majel is neurotic and seemingly depressed. Compared to other couples, she is desperate to get rid of her husband, to the point she is willing to let him go into space for some alone time (A Star Too Far). She is more favored than her husband due to her neighbors being equally cynical. Beyond her nature, she finds reprieve in shoegaze music and science-fiction. Majel seems to favor Jenny more than Jerry, vice versa with her husband. From Greeley, Colorado. * Henrietta "Hen" Perrino (Sally Cahill): Lars' wife and Francis' mother. Unlike Lars who has moved past his mafia days, Hen is a ruthless bully who uses her connections to get her way. She isn't above coldly threatening anyone who does the same to her or those she's close to. She was Lars' childhood bully, but was forced to get together with him due to their parents believing that she had a crush on him. Hen is Majel's best friend, the two of them knew each other from high school through to college and occasionally get together when the committee isn't up. From Warsaw, Indiana. * Delta Meeks (Ellen Ray Hennessy): Victoria and Amber's mother, and Alison, Linda, Yorba and Nixon's grandmother. Delta used to work as an English teacher before she was goaded into an early retirement. Unlike the rest of her family, she had remained in her hometown until Three of the Dog Women, and from there she moved to Belbury permanently. Delta is a friendly woman who prefers to approach every issue with caution, only breaking that principal when driven to the edge. * Hanneke Slaatsky (nee Demke) (Terri Hawkes): Boris' wife. Hanneke clashes heavily with her husband and is not ashamed of it. He had viewed her lowly for years, seeing her as a means to an end, and as a result she became apathetic to their marriage. She has cheated on him with Belbury's single males to maintain a semblance of sanity. When she's not with Boris, she is more comfortable with being herself, as in a partier and a sports fan. From Safford, Arizona. * Dakota Dallow (Jayne Eastwood): Delta's daughter and Artemis and Julie's mother. Dakota is a pro-wrestler who seems to be more obsessed with her body image than Enid, with the two serving as friendly rivals. Dakota tends to be rough and is prone to angry outbursts, and due to her line of work she is unable to always be there for her family, but whenever a crisis occurs, she's willing to drop everything to help. Dakota is part Scottish and part Irish. From Merrill, Wisconsin. * Lynn Newton (Kathleen Laskey): A former evangelist and a pastor at Belbury's local church. Like Luther she was involved with a number of financial schemes and was actually expelled from her position over it. Her and Luther's relationship stems from that, but both grew to know each other and fully solidify their bond. Her relationship with the other mothers is generally hit or miss, and as a result she isn't regularly included in their endeavors. Lynn has a vehement hatred of dogs and tends to kill any that wind up on her lawn, feeding them to her husband. From El Reno, Oklahoma. * Andy Hammond (Jamie Watson): An uppity man who rarely holds back when it comes to criticizing people. Andy is generally anti-social, which heavily affected his work life because of his penchant to snap. His attitude enabled him to earn a relationship with Chris, later Autumn and Martha when they met. In spite of his demeanor, he could surprisingly be reasoned with once someone talks to him long enough, and he's seemingly not very bright, as he tends to go against his own social doctrines by accident. His poor depiction of the world stems from his introverted nature, and as a result he reacts to things differently than anyone normally would. Andy holds no contempt toward anyone, save for those he deems to be rotten by nature. Andy grew up in Lander, Wyoming. * Mike Stearns (Gene Mack): A sour man and a frequent complainer. In the books, he was a frequent critic of several African American movements, particularly the Black Panthers; this was toned down for the series, but allusions still suffice. Compared to people like Martha and Andy, Mike isn't as misanthropic as them; while Andy and Martha merely comment on something negatively knowing full well they can't do anything about it, Mike is more vocal about his dissatisfaction, to the annoyance of the otherwise silent circle he's in. Mike's from Hawthorne, Nevada * Chris Hancock (Jamie Watson): A downbeat man. Chris tends to be the middleman in his circle, tending to try and stop any confrontation with a quick comment. Chris suffers from depression, something the others have caught on to and they attempt to keep their interactions leveled to avoid setting him off. Unlike Andy or Martha, Chris is an introvert by choice. He was unable to maintain lasting relationships and had a very bad relationship with his father, along with some poorly decided career choices where he had to put up with condescending superiors. That aspect gave him a complex where he immediately rebuffs anyone who's quick to criticize (Andy's an exception to this, possibly because Chris knows Andy does it by nature.) Chris grew up in Lovington, New Mexico and works at an electronics store. * Montgomery Proctor (David Hemblen): Sam's father, and a warlock. Monte looks to be in his forties, but it's implied that he's immortal and has lived for several thousand years. Howard suffers from narcolepsy, and is a bit of a milquetoast, not helped by his wife. Unlike her, Monte isn't as wrapped in materialism as Zelda and is more involved in the lives of others in the neighborhood. In spite of his upbringing, Monte no longer has any powers of his own, at least in a major sense; he gave his up to bring Sam back to life after Zelda's ignorance led to the former drowning. In spite of this, Monte remained mostly loyal to Zelda and was oblivious to her infidelity, though he catches onto this near the end of the first season. Monte's from Duxbury, Massachusetts. The Teens This is mainly used to note characters that are related to the protagonists. * Mercury Slaatsky (Jenn Forgie): The eldest daughter in the Slaatsky family. She possesses a thick Russian accent, putting her in the same vein as her father. Mercury is vanity-laden, and tends to enforce her beliefs, resorting to violent yet comical deeds whenever she's challenged. She also seems to possess incredible strength, something she uses to throw otherwise heavy objects at Boris during more heated arguments. In "Do You Get Goosebumps in the Dark?", it's implied that Mercury has the ability to turn into a Sasquatch-like creature, and that Alison's the only one who knows for sure, though for a time she was written off as crazy. In the finale, it's revealed that Mercury does in fact have this power, though how she got it was never explained. Janyse Jaud was originally cast as her, but Strange was unsatisfied with Jaud's attempt at a Russian accent. * Yorba and Nixon Meeks (Alyson Court and Chuck Campbell respectively): Twin siblings who’re Alison's cousins and Amber’s children. Yorba's a geeky goth girl and is more extroverted compared to Nixon. Yorba is also very naive and emotional, to the point some people make fun of her for it. Yorba became goth to be closer to her brother, but she seems to embrace the fashion more than the other aspects of goth culture. Nixon is more into goth culture than Yorba, and is also into horror. He tends to be brutally honest and spiteful, though only Yorba seems to be receptive to the intentions behind this. Typically the level headed one of the two, the roles tend to reverse in the midst of supernatural circumstances. * Artemis Dallow (Megan Fahlenbock): Julie's older sister, the middle child of the family. Artemis is a street-wise individual who shares a similar moralistic view to Julie. She also tends to be naive, going along with anything no matter how insane it is. She is picky about who she wants to follow, and is quick to chastise anyone she suspects of being fake. Artemis is friends with Yorba, her equivalent. * Adelaide Dallow (Stacey DePass): The eldest daughter in the Dallows. Adelaide has psychic powers, which she keeps secret and uses to keep tabs on those she's against. She has a typical love/hate relationship with Artemis and Julie, namely due to differing personalities. In spite of this, Adelaide does care for her family, and her nature seems to be due to her wanting to preserve order in the house. Adelaide is friends with Linda, and she tends to use the latter to cover for her. * Linda Meeks (Kelly Sheridan): Amber's eldest daughter. Linda is an acne-riddled sci-fi geek who makes up for her lower social status by being more headstrong than her compatriots. She is often present in brief visual gags where she's in a relationship with a slacker, Hugh (Yannick Bisson) and both engage in lewd acts. Aside from that, she is friends with Adelaide, and is often used to cover for the latter. Other Prominent Characters * Elizabeth Yuzna (Chantal Strand): A film and book enthusiast who's within Georgina's circle of friends. Elizabeth's obsession with film puts her at odds with other people, given that she is often vehemently critical of well-regarded films or shows, preferring more obscure, less warmly received fare. When she is independent of Georgina, she seems to be the leader of the trio and often coordinates whatever happens for the day. It's revealed that Elizabeth rarely ever bathes. Elizabeth's last name is sourced from Brian Yuzna, the directer of Silent Night, Deadly Night 4. This represents Elizabeth going against the norm, like in Brian's case, making a film in a series that conflicts with the theme of the rest of the series. *'Dolly Kitrosser (Ashley Taylor):' A bubbly girl. Dolly frequently adds "totally" to every sentence she says, to the annoyance of most, though people generally tolerate it. Dolly seems to be none too bright, though most episodes show that she's smarter than she seems. Dolly was abandoned as a child and was taken in by her future father Luther per a revelation on his part. She encouraged him (and later Laney) to clean up their lives and they received a hefty fortune from the Perrinos, making them cash rich. Dolly's last name comes from Martin Kitrosser, director of Silent Night, Deadly Night 5. This represents an attempt at staying with the source material, but still coming off as different. Dolly tries to be like everyone else but falls short most of the time. * Hope Chapley (Nicole Oliver): A haggard teacher at Belbury Middle School, and an occasional antagonist. Like Kerry, she enforces moralism, but to a far grander, often sinister extent, to the point she's willing to let people die just to teach them a lesson. She was formally married to Kerry (apparently done through a shotgun marriage), but he wound up leaving her. In spite of her profession, Hope vehemently hates children, especially her class, directing it the most to Julie and her friends to the point she tries to get them expelled with her attempts either failing to go anywhere or backfiring when they strike back against her. Her efforts led to her getting fired or her pay getting docked, but she always returns by the start of the next episode. Beyond teaching, Ms. Chapley also does maintenance work around the school. It's implied that she rarely leaves the school, but the circumstances behind this were never confirmed. * Daphne Kadic: Cosmo's estranged wife. She is mentioned frequently in each episode but has never been seen. Details on her life were revealed throughout the series from her childhood to her adult years. As a kid, Daphne was a tomboyish girl who loved flowers and often picked on Cosmo. When she turned 25 she left to join the army but was sent out of the battlefield due to her losing her hand in combat. She took a job as a waitress at a diner and reunited with Cosmo, eventually marrying him. Daphne is killed a month prior to the pilot telefilm and it heavily affected Cosmo since then. Episodes Pilots Season 1 Season 2 Reception The series initially received mixed reviews, with praise going toward the characters and stories but criticism going toward the overall execution. Over the years, thanks to its unconventional nature, the show gained a cult following. Hebrew Dub In 2002, a Hebrew dub was produced by West Force Productions for Arutz HaYeladim. In Israel, the show was referred to as The Spirits and had a minor non-secular slant. Only the first season got dubbed due to Gecko Studios shutting down in 2003, hence West Force was unable to seek final approval for dubbing the next. Home Media In 2006, the first season was released on DVD in Canada through kaBOOM! Entertainment. The DVD includes commentary from Strange, Emerson and Ward and a behind the scenes interview with the three. The DVD is currently out of print. As of 2014, the series is currently hosted through Strange & Company on their website and YouTube channel. 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